Russian athletes not invited to Olympic Games in Korea will go to Sochi tournament

UFA, 29 January 2018. /Bashinform News Agency, Alfiya Agliullina/. Sports competitions will be organized in Sochi for athletes who did not receive invitations to the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang from the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In addition to Russian athletes, foreign athletes will also be invited to Sochi, who for various reasons were also suspended from Games in Pyeongchang, Izvestia reports .

About 500 athletes are expected to participate in the alternative tournament. All facilities that were used in the host city of the Winter Olympics 2014 are in good condition and are ready to welcome athletes at any time, the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation specified.

The list of athletes who did not receive the IOC invitations for the 2018 Winter Olympics includes representatives of Bashkiria, such as Ufa skater Ruslan Zakharov and bobsledder Ilvir Khuzin.

Total, five athletes will represent the Republic of Bashkortostan at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang:

- Anton Babikov (biathlon);

- Ernest Jachin (Nordic combined);

- Christina Spiridonova (freestyle);

- Olga Sosina (hockey);

- Semen Elistratov (short track).

The Russian national hockey team also includes the trainee of the Ufa Salavat Yulaev Andrey Zubarev, who now competes for St. Petersburg SKA.